May 10, 2018 Thursday– WGNSS Annual Spring Banquet!

WGNSS Birding Group: May 1 - 31 – St. Louis Area Birdathon! Sponsored by WGNSS, St. Louis Audubon, and Audubon Center at RiverlandsPlease join us for our inaugural Birdathon! Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience. It promises to be fun, educational, and maybe even a little competitive fun! Have fun bird watching and help protect birds.​For more information visit: www.stlouisaudubon.org/birdathon

Entomology Group:May 11-12, Saturday & Sunday– BioBlitz at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center!!The WGNSS Entomology Group will participate with an evening of blacklighting on May 11. (dusk until 11 pm) and an insect walk on May 12 from 11 am until 2 pm.All are welcome!

WGNSS Conservation: May 19, Saturday – Spring Nature Walk at Emmenegger Nature Park11991 Stoneywood Drive, Kirkwood, Mo 63122 Meet at the trailhead kiosk by creek at 10 AM.Our nature focus will be: "Insects, it's the Littlest Things That Make the World Go!" Join WGNSS vice-president Rich Thoma on this field trip as we look at why insects (not people) are the organisms that have shaped the natural world we live in. We will also explore what the world might look like if insects were to disappear. This walk will be held rain or shine, and include unpaved trails of easy to moderate difficulty.Bring a camera or notebook, if you like. Free for all ages. All our welcome!

WGNSS Birding Group:April 29, Sunday, 9-11am – WGNSS Birding group hosts a St. Louis City Nature Challenge!A "Beginners Bird Walk" at the Tower Grove Park Robert & Martha Gaddy Bird Garden–– a St. Louis birding Hot-spot! This walk will be led by WGNSS's own expert birders David Becher and Karen Meyer! Bring a camera or notebook, if you like. Free for all ages. All our welcome!

The WGNSS third digital photo contest was held at the Kirkwood Community Center on April 6. Judging took place in four natural history categories (Plants and Fungi, Invertebrates, Vertebrates, and Landscapes) with a first, second, third and honorary mention for each category. In addition, the 2017 contest included a new 'Photo Blog' category. Each blog that was submitted for judging included photos and a natural history essay. For the natural history categories, judging took place in “American Idol” style where each judge described the features of photos they thought were great, from a photographer’s point of view as well as from the subject and natural history perspective. The Photo Blog category was judged by the WGNSS Nature Book Club. The Photo Contest was a wonderful opportunity for the participates to learn how to take great natural history photos! From the top three photos in each category a Grand Prize photo was chosen by everyone in attendance. Congratulations to the photo winners.

Friendly reminder of WGNSS DUES RENEWAL -- August is the time to renew your WGNSS membership dues. Annual membership is just $15 to receive Nature Notes by email(or $25 to receive Nature Notes by USPS mail). You can use the membership form at on the back of Nature Notes, also available at the bottom of this webpage. Please note any changes to your email, phone, etc., and mail with your payment to:​ Webster Groves Nature Study Society PO Box 190065 St. Louis, MO 63119If you have already renewed, THANK YOU!